Official Mandarin and Dragonet Show off thread

[Tamberav]

That's awful, and the shipping was stressfull too. I bet the picture you saw online didn't show him skinny. Good luck with getting him to eat.

 

Yeah, you can't tell from the DD picture that he was skinny He is in the fuge right now and eating pods (I have like 1000's in there). Going to try and broadcast feed him as much as I can too. I emailed LA with a picture showing them they sent me an unhealthy fish.

[ManGups]

It is now the way you are thinking that he just eats pellets .. he eats everything else also flakes, frozen mysis shrimp, frozen brine shrimp, frozen clams..(these I what I feed my fish/inverts/ anemone as variety) .. the ultimate aim was to get to get him to eat flakes or pellets. However he prefers formula 2 pellets and Hikari frozen brine shrimp

 

Eating pellets is a kind of backup for worst case scenario...for example - I travel for work and am away from my tank for sometimes 7-8 days. With flakes and pellets on an automatic feeder i can be at ease that he not starving for the 7 days I am away and not waiting on me to come back and feed him pods and ova.

 

I also have a 3.6 gallon CPR refugim which I had seeded with Tibse reef pods almost 1 month before I got him.. so he gets that too. I have not seeded my refuim again after that and I can see amphipods/coepods on the acrylic and when i give the chaeto a shake/stir..

 

I saw my previous post.. I put in 'just eats' - i actully should have put in 'also eats'..I guess that is where it made you think i just feed him pellets..

Here are some latest pics of the little guy.. he has gained some weight and seems doing well. However, I guess he is scared of me for keeping him in the breeder cage for training...

 

These are phone camera pics..

 

 

 

 

 

[metrokat]

Well, i threw in a chunk of OVA and he vacuumed it up. He's good fish, he eats frozen brine too. Now I just need to fatten him up before releasing him into the wild tank. Why he won't eat properly in the tank is beyond me. I think I might train him to eat from the diner I made, while he is in the breeder net.

[RC1313]

Yeah, you can't tell from the DD picture that he was skinny He is in the fuge right now and eating pods (I have like 1000's in there). Going to try and broadcast feed him as much as I can too. I emailed LA with a picture showing them they sent me an unhealthy fish.

I hope it doesn't come to this, but DD is very good about DAA fish.

[JoeDigiorgio]

Honestly. Ova is magic. I'm going out on a limb and saying Ova is everything it's cracked up to be and more and if its not in your freezer your mandarins are missing out.

[Tamberav]

Honestly. Ova is magic. I'm going out on a limb and saying Ova is everything it's cracked up to be and more and if its not in your freezer your mandarins are missing out.

 

100% agree, not just for mandarins but any fish, corals, anything.

[JoeDigiorgio]

Oh for sure. I can't think of a food as nutritious and that fish love as much as Ova. Wild mandarins and pipefish eat it without hesitation. What more can you ask for!?

[metrokat]

Having Sam in the breeder net is more stressful for me than him although he is stressed also. He is eating most anything I put in there except pellets. He's not expending energy since he's in a closed little area but of course it was take a while to put on weight. I'm no sure I can last that long, I am considering releasing him. The only issue I have is why he won't gain weight in the tank, why he won't take his time and eat what is in front of him before moving off.

 

Not sure what to do. For all intents and purposes he is a trained fish.

[metrokat]

Okay! Update. He looks MUCH better! That spine is less defined. Yep, he can stress all he wants. He stays in the net!

[malady]

Okay! Update. He looks MUCH better! That spine is less defined. Yep, he can stress all he wants. He stays in the net!

 

this is a great Idea.

 

My tanks is to small there is no way I would be able to catch my mandy to do that without hitting rocks

 

So I am stuck overfeeding >_<

[xzeror]

Just curious as to how much you guys would pay for a pair of mandarins who both eat frozen?

[JoeDigiorgio]

Just curious as to how much you guys would pay for a pair of mandarins who both eat frozen?

Lol no more than the usual $15-20 each. I haven't come across a healthy mandarin yet who I couldn't get onto frozen food...but I guess if you wanted to put value on the fact that time is money and you aren't the one babying them in the first week or two, then that value can only be determined by the purchaser.

 

I figure at most an hour or 2 per day for a week to train a stubborn one, right? So based on my experience, at most were talking 14hrs of real work to get them consistently eating what you want, times like $7.75 which is my state's minimum wage I think, puts us at $108.50. Now if we're talking about a pair then we could just multiply by 2 for a total of $217 but that would be ridiculous because any reputable dealer would cut you a 10% break for buying more than one which would take it down to $195.30 plus your county's sales tax (6% in mine, for a final total of $207 for the pair) ...assuming its a local store selling it

[Tamberav]

Just curious as to how much you guys would pay for a pair of mandarins who both eat frozen?

 

Maybe like $80 for both if they eat a wide array just to save myself the trouble.

[mallek]

you guys make me jealous. favorite fish of all time

[Tamberav]

So far, so good. He is eating ova and knows pumps off = dinner time. Pods are thriving and everyone is getting along.

 

 

 

[JoeDigiorgio]

That scooter is amazing. I'm jealous.

 

I came back Friday night from Puerto Rico to a broken AC unit and many dead and DIY fish. My pair of mandarins, including the female I've had for almost 2 years, are dead. I also lost my male bluestripe pipefish and my erectus horses.

 

In the reef, I somehow have started losing zoanthid heads. Last night I caught some amphipods chewing on the already dead/dying ones. I don't blame them though. They completely ignore the healthy polyps and have been in high numbers in that tank since establishment. I am going to try ripping out the 2 affected colonies and dipping them. Idk how successful that will be though since they've encrusted quite a bit a ways off of the original rubble chunks I bought them on. Ugh. Idk. I have not been this frustrated and disheartened in a long time. This has given me more anxiety than anything nursing school or work ever threw my way.

[Tamberav]

That scooter is amazing. I'm jealous.

 

I came back Friday night from Puerto Rico to a broken AC unit and many dead and DIY fish. My pair of mandarins, including the female I've had for almost 2 years, are dead. I also lost my male bluestripe pipefish and my erectus horses.

 

In the reef, I somehow have started losing zoanthid heads. Last night I caught some amphipods chewing on the already dead/dying ones. I don't blame them though. They completely ignore the healthy polyps and have been in high numbers in that tank since establishment. I am going to try ripping out the 2 affected colonies and dipping them. Idk how successful that will be though since they've encrusted quite a bit a ways off of the original rubble chunks I bought them on. Ugh. Idk. I have not been this frustrated and disheartened in a long time. This has given me more anxiety than anything nursing school or work ever threw my way.

 

Dang, I am really really sorry for the loss That is so disheartening because we put so much work into them, more than most other common fish kept.

 

I hope you don't give up and give a new pair a wonderful home. You may want to invest in a Apex system (even a Jr) so you can track the temp. I bought one out of fear of something like this happening because I travel a lot.

[JoeDigiorgio]

That's the thing. I NEVER travel. A vacation for me is a day in the keys. The worst part is that it happens on the 3 days I'm not around. Of course. I'm here every day. I notice every time a scale is out of place on one of my fish.

 

Today I scooped up a new male bluestripe. They're hard to come by so I figured $20 on one that's been hiding in the invert system at a store by me was worth it. I think I'm the only person that knew that fish was there for the past 2-3 months. Now I'm just hoping it was just the heat that killed everything and not something else in combination. This shit sucks so bad.

[Boggers]

Here is mine fat little guy.

[metrokat]

Joe I'm so sorry to hear of the news. dont lose hope.

 

On my end, Sam bumbled about and ate 2 live black worms today. I'm not sure how he could be a fish, he acts like a buffoon sometimes. Looks at the squirming worms this way and that finally stares it down and then makes a lunge. Misses the worm 9 times out of 10. Then acts all surprised when he finally catches it.

 

The other fish catch them and slurp them in, this guy is still working on his technique.

[cal10lee]

Here's my guy, had him for almost 6 months now. He's a little shy sometimes, I'm assuming that's kinda normal?

[Veng]

My mandy is still doing well, so I guess it's time to post another picture.

 

 

[metrokat]

My mandy is still doing well, so I guess it's time to post another picture.

That little chubette is so itty bitty in real life but looks big in her pictures.

 

Here is mine fat little guy.

Very cute

 

Here's my guy, had him for almost 6 months now. He's a little shy sometimes, I'm assuming that's kinda normal?

Yeah they are shy. If there is a lot of human movement around they get used to it faster than if you're just staring at them when you come home from work.

[Tamberav]

Uh oh this fell to page 3! Time to post a bad pic to bump it My spotted male is getting so fat he looks gravid.. lol

 

http://s74.photobucket.com/user/Tamberav/media/popmandy_zps71287db9.jpg.html'>

[Based]

Can't tell if I need to beef up my feeding with bullseye. Can't tell if he has a nice stomach or not as I never know if a mandarin is fat or not.